MPigs

Active Member

MPâ€™s and expensesâ€¦.You can always know when a politician is lyingâ€¦.his lips move.
I love the way that they are blaming the â€™systemâ€™ and not themselves. Hold onâ€¦. didnâ€™t they create the system? They admit to making mistakes over some of their expense claims. These are the numbnuts who are in charge of getting our country back on itâ€™s feet and on a stable footing and they canâ€™t even get their expenses right. They just fleece the country and show complete disrespect for the people who entrust them to run the country.If these things happened in the private sector, they would be sacked and charges brought. Yet they still will escape without punishment. The apathy and loathing this scandal has brought will mean a poor turn out for the coming elections and if there is a mass abstainance the BNP will be laughing.

Piggies in the troughâ€¦. Four legs Good Two legs Badâ€¦.. ( thanks to the good old Sun for these facts below)

1. Marquess of Lothian claimed more than Â£14,000 a year in expenses while owning three properties worth Â£8million

2. Mr Brown used his expenses to pay his brother, Andrew, Â£6,577 for cleaning work at his Westminster flat between 2004 and 2006. The brothers shared the cleaner at their two flats. Under the arrangement, Andrew Brown paid the cleaner and the Prime Minister reimbursed his share of the cost.

3. Andy Burham, the Culture Secretary wrote a note to the fees office in which he pleaded for his Â£16,500 expenses to be paid urgently and even wrote he â€œmight be in line for a divorceâ€ if the money did not materialise within days. His claim for a Â£19.99 Ikea bath robe was rejected.

4. Stephen Byers. the former Trade Secretary used the expenses system to claim more than Â£125,000 for the London flat owned by his partner. Over the past five years, Mr Byers spent more than Â£27,000 on redecoration, maintenance and appliances at the flat in Camden, north London. The claims included extensive renovations to the outside of the entire building, which consists of four flats. Documents showed Mr Byers put the entire Â£12,000 bill for the work - including his partnerâ€™s share - on expenses.

5. Campbell Menzies. Former Lib Dem leader claimed Â£10,000 of taxpayersâ€™ cash after he hired an interior designer to refurbish his London home. Claim included a new king-size bed worth Â£1,024.

6. David Davis, former Tory shadow Home Secretary claimed more than Â£10,000 expenses of taxpayersâ€™ money for doing up his home in Yorkshire, including a new Â£5,700 portico.

7. Alan Duncan, Shadow Leader of the House, claimed more than Â£4,000 of taxpayersâ€™ money to do up his garden. He gave public cash to his gardener and claimed Â£598 to service his ride-on lawn mower. In total, the multi-millionaire claimed Â£127,658 in second homes allowance over the last six years, Â£126 short of the maximum.

10. Chris Grayling, claimed for a London flat when his constituency home is just 17 miles from the Commons. Will now stop claiming for it.

11. John Gummer, former Tory Cabinet minister had moles removed from his country estate at taxpayersâ€™ expense plus money for removing jackdaw nests, tackling insect infestations and an annual â€˜rodent serviceâ€™ contract. He claimed more than Â£9,000 a year for gardening.

12. Alan Hazelhurst, Deputy Speaker has claimed Â£142,119 for his mortgage-free country home over the last seven years. He has claimed almost Â£12,000 over five years for gardening bills.

13. Douglas Hogg, the former agriculture secretary, claimed more than Â£2,000 for the moat around his country estate to be cleared. The taxpayer also paid towards the cost of a Â£14,000-a-year full-time housekeeper, including her car. He also had his piano tuned using the publicâ€™s cash.

14. Stewart Jackson, billed the taxpayer for more than Â£11,000 in professional fees when buying a new home in Peterborough. He claimed more than Â£300 for work on a swimming pool and hundreds more for work to a â€œsummer roomâ€. Last night he agreed to repay the swimming pool cash.

15. Juie Kirkbride, pocketed Â£23,083 claiming the London home she shared with husband Andrew MacKay MP was her MAIN home. But she also shared a home with him in her Bromsgrove constituency.

16. Andrew MacKay, The Tory claimed Â£22,575 on the London home he shares with his Tory MP wife Julie Kirkbride. He claimed the â€™second homeâ€™ cash even though he does NOT have a â€˜firstâ€™ or â€˜mainâ€™ home in his Bracknell constituency.

17. Francis Maude, pocketed almost Â£35,000 in two years for mortgage interest payments on a London flat when he owned a house just around the corner. Will now stop claiming for second house.

18. David Milliband, The Foreign Secretary claimed almost Â£30,000 for doing up his Â£120,000 constituency home over five years. He spent up to Â£180 every three months on the garden at the property in South Shields. At the bottom of one receipt for Â£132.96 in April 2008, his gardener wrote a note questioning whether some of the work was necessary. His Â£200 claim for a pram was turned down.

19 Margaret Moran, Labour MP for Luton switched her second home to the house she shares with her partner, 100 miles from her constituency - just days before spending Â£22,500 on treating dry rot at the seafront property.

20. Elliot Morely, The Labour MP has been suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party over his expenses claims today. He trousered Â£800 a month for a mortgage he had already paid â€” making off with a total of Â£16,000.

21. Alex Salmond, put in for Â£400 per month for grub when the Commons was not even sitting.

22. Micheal Spicer, Senior Tory backbencher claimed Â£5,650 in nine months for gardening work. In December 2006, he submitted a detailed invoice which included â€œhedge cutting â€¦ helipadâ€, although he insists the â€œhelipadâ€ was a â€œfamily jokeâ€. He also charged for the costs of hanging a chandelier.

23. Kieth Vaz, claimed Â£75,500 for a second flat near Parliament despite living just 12 miles down the road from Westminster.

24. Shaun Woodward, taxpayers contributed almost Â£100,000 to help pay the mortgage on Mr Woodwardâ€™s Â£1.35million flat - one of seven owned by the Northern Ireland Secretary.

chrismitchell

Guest

the thing that amazes me is that we are shocked that politicians have swindled us and tried to get as much money as they can.. this is not surprising to me... did no-one watch "the new statesman" or "yes minister"?

Senior Member

It makes me wonder, why the hell are they allowed expenses AT ALL on their sodden wages?

If you were transferred to another part of the country or a canny distance from work, you'd either move or no doubt take on a second job to pay the extra (or not take the job in question).
Yet these greedy gits take their nice little income, plus expenses, plus back-handers and go knows what else.

Why the hell do we put up with it? Where's Guy Fawkes when you need him lol

Active Member

the point is ..if you or I had made "mistakes over some of our expense claims" we would be charged with fraud. ignorance is not an excuse! Fraud is punishable by fine and a jail sentance of 3-5-10years!

so whats the difference? or have the recent expense claim debarkle proven that the law is an ass, and is only enforceable when the face 'doesnt fit'